The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Scottish author Helen Bannerman and published by Grant Richards in October 1899. As one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children, the story was popular for more than half a century.
Julius Bernard Lester was an American writer of books for children and adults and an academic who taught for 32 years (1971–2003) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Lester was also a civil rights activist, a photographer, and a musician who recorded two albums of folk music and original songs.
Jerry Pinkney was an American illustrator and writer of children's literature. Pinkney illustrated over 100 books since 1964, including picture books, nonfiction titles and novels. Pinkney's works addressed diverse themes and were usually done in watercolors.
The Lion & the Mouse is a 2009 nearly wordless picture book illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This book, published by Little, Brown and Company, tells Aesop's fable of The Lion and the Mouse. In the story, a mouse's life is a spared by a lion. Later, after the lion is trapped, the mouse is able to set the lion free. Adapting the fable, with the moral that the weak can help the strong, as a wordless picture book was seen as a successful way of overcoming the brief plot generally found in the source stories. While it was Pinkney's first wordless picture book, it was not the first time he had told the story, having previously included it in his Aesop's Fables, published in 2000. Pinkney, who had received five Caldecott Honors, became the first African American to win the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in this book. His illustrations were generally praised for their realism and sense of place. The cover illustrations, featuring the title characters but no text, drew particular praise.
Little Red Riding Hood is a 2007 children's picture book of the Brothers Grimm classic fairy tale adapted by Jerry Pinkney.
The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit is a 1987 Children's book by Julius Lester and illustrator Jerry Pinkney. It is a retelling of the American Br'er Rabbit tales.
John Henry is a 1994 children's picture book by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. It is about the American legendary figure John Henry. In 1998, a 19-minute film adaptation of the book was narrated by Samuel L. Jackson and released by Weston Woods Studios.
Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman is a 1996 children's picture book by Alan Schroeder and is illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. Released in 1996 by Dial Press, it is a fictionalized story of Harriet Tubman as a young girl.
Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story is a 1998 children's picture book by Julius Lester and illustrator Jerry Pinkney. It is about an ex-slave and Black cowboy, Bob Lemmons, who, by himself, wrangles a herd of wild horses to a corral.
The Little Match Girl is a 1999 adaptation of the classic Hans Christian Andersen story by Jerry Pinkney. It is about a girl who is a street vendor of artificial flowers and matches in a city during the early twentieth century and rather than returning home, as she hasn't made any sales, lights her matches to keep warm, sees wonderful visions, then dies and goes to heaven.
Aesop's Fables is a 2000 collection of 61 fables from the Aesop oeuvre, retold by Jerry Pinkney. It includes stories about wolves, foxes, lions, dogs, mice, and donkeys.
The Nightingale is a 2002 adaptation of the classic 1843 Hans Christian Andersen story by Jerry Pinkney. It is about a king who forsakes a nightingale for a bejeweled mechanical bird, becomes gravely ill, and is then revived by the song of the nightingale.
The Little Red Hen is a 2006 book by Jerry Pinkney of the classic folktale about a chicken and some animals that decline to assist her in the growing and harvesting of wheat which she then uses to bake bread. When the animals ask to have some, she refuses and instead eats the bread with her chicks.
The Old African is a 2005 book by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. It is based on an incident at Igbo Landing and is about Jaja, a slave who leads a group of plantation slaves back to Africa by walking into the ocean.
The Hired Hand: An African-American Folktale is a 1997 book by Robert D. San Souci and illustrator Jerry Pinkney based on an African American folktale about an itinerant worker who is able to rejuvenate and resurrect people.
Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream is a 2000 book by Julius Lester and illustrator Jerry Pinkney telling why teddy bears look as if they have a secret.
The Tortoise & the Hare is a 2013 wordless picture book of Aesop's classic fable and is illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. It is about a tortoise and a hare that compete in a foot race with the tortoise surprisingly winning.
The Christmas Boot is a 2016 picture book by Lisa Wheeler and illustrator Jerry Pinkney. It is about a woman, Hannah Greyweather, who finds a single black boot, that turns out to be owned by Santa.
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is a 1997 retelling of Rudyard Kipling's classic story by Jerry Pinkney about a mongoose that protects a family from two cobras. The book won a Caldecott honor in 1998 for its illustrations.
Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl is a 2003 picture book by Virginia Hamilton and illustrated by James Ransome. It is a retelling by Hamilton, in the Gullah dialect, of the classic story of Bruh Rabbit outwitting Bruh Wolf.
